Just back from a fabulous, fabulous trip. Me in an ECV, BF, DD 14, DS 15. A few thoughts/comments:
Rented from Randy"s Mobility. He was great. I arrived much earlier than expected and he accommodated my ealry arrival. Went over the ECV, explained the battery. Off we wnet. No problems all week. It was picked up on time. great. I would definatley use him again.
I avoided the buses becasue of all the horror stories I have read here, so no bus comments. The monorail was great. The CMs were great at every stop. The people, sometimes not so much. I would be at the marked handicapped gate with my family waiting, at the direction of the CM. The train would arrive, the doors open and before the CM could get the ramp in place people would pour into the car. This left my family trying to squeeze into the car behind my ECV. One time my kids could not get into the same car with me becasue there was just no room. And it was never like every other car was so full. I still don't understand why people had to pour into the car I was lined up for.
Rides were very variable in terms of handicapped issues. At BTM we were one of the first few to approach on the morning. The CM in front told me to go to the exit and someone would let us in. They forgot us and we waited quite a bit before anyone came to let us in. On the other hand, Buzz Lightyear, Soarin, the Land and many others were great. We never went directly to the front of the line, which isn't right, but we didn't wait longer than pur turn either. At test Track the CM in front very pointedly ignored me when I was asking which line to go in. So I went in the stand by line with my family. When we got to the front the lift was broken and so they had to take us all the way back outside and all the way around to the exit. The CM inside--whose name I'm sorry I don't remember--could not have been nicer or more apologetic that I was not told out front where to go.
On the rides that don't stop making loading and unloading a challenge I found the CMs very helpful and good about warning me.
Some of the restaurants--be careful. We did a lot of buffets and so I would walk with my cane. But lots of kids running, pushing, etc, made it a bit scary. (I have balance issues and fall easily). ALso watch out as I found many restaurant floors quite slippery, especially Askerhaus (sp?) and CP (although I loved their breakfast!).
if you are doing buffets and have trouble walking make sure to tell the CM as they will try to seat you nearer the buffet line.
In general, sadly, I found more people (other guests) hostile toward me and the ECV than I was prepared for. I know from these boards that a lot of people think ECV users aren't really disabled, especially if you are fat, which I am. But I never could have done WDW w/o the ECV. And I saw tons of people who clearly had never driven an ECV driving like maniacs. It's too bad we all get tarred by that brush. I tried to be careful and look where I was going. I actually received several compliments from boat captains and monorail CMs. I hope that doesn't sound to braggy. And I heard several conversations that led me to believe the people were able bodied and rented for the "ease." Doesn't seem easy to me.
I have to tell you this one story...I'm driving back to my room at the Poly, fairly early one morning. I round a corner, on medium turtle speed, way over on the right hand side of the path. Toward me is coming Grandma on an ECV, her--I would guess--adult daughters and grandchildren, walking. Grandma is bent over adjusting her sandals while holding the ECV controls with her elbows, coming right at me. Swear to God. She's not even glancing up at where she is going. I am over as far as I can go, and now at a dead stop. Grandma is still coming at me. I finally yelled "LOOK OUT!" Grandma looks up and says "Oh. I should look where I'm going." Ya think??!!
Lots of adults not watching their kids who glare at you when their kids leap in front of you. Anyway, just be careful.
Our room at the Poly was plenty big enough to park the ECV out of the way. Battery never ran out, although I napped every afternoon and plugged it in before going out for the evening.
CMs in the shops were all great and very helpful when I couldn't reach things, etc.
I think that's everything I wanted to say. If anyone has a specific question I'll try to answer.
Rented from Randy"s Mobility. He was great. I arrived much earlier than expected and he accommodated my ealry arrival. Went over the ECV, explained the battery. Off we wnet. No problems all week. It was picked up on time. great. I would definatley use him again.
I avoided the buses becasue of all the horror stories I have read here, so no bus comments. The monorail was great. The CMs were great at every stop. The people, sometimes not so much. I would be at the marked handicapped gate with my family waiting, at the direction of the CM. The train would arrive, the doors open and before the CM could get the ramp in place people would pour into the car. This left my family trying to squeeze into the car behind my ECV. One time my kids could not get into the same car with me becasue there was just no room. And it was never like every other car was so full. I still don't understand why people had to pour into the car I was lined up for.
Rides were very variable in terms of handicapped issues. At BTM we were one of the first few to approach on the morning. The CM in front told me to go to the exit and someone would let us in. They forgot us and we waited quite a bit before anyone came to let us in. On the other hand, Buzz Lightyear, Soarin, the Land and many others were great. We never went directly to the front of the line, which isn't right, but we didn't wait longer than pur turn either. At test Track the CM in front very pointedly ignored me when I was asking which line to go in. So I went in the stand by line with my family. When we got to the front the lift was broken and so they had to take us all the way back outside and all the way around to the exit. The CM inside--whose name I'm sorry I don't remember--could not have been nicer or more apologetic that I was not told out front where to go.
On the rides that don't stop making loading and unloading a challenge I found the CMs very helpful and good about warning me.
Some of the restaurants--be careful. We did a lot of buffets and so I would walk with my cane. But lots of kids running, pushing, etc, made it a bit scary. (I have balance issues and fall easily). ALso watch out as I found many restaurant floors quite slippery, especially Askerhaus (sp?) and CP (although I loved their breakfast!).
if you are doing buffets and have trouble walking make sure to tell the CM as they will try to seat you nearer the buffet line.
In general, sadly, I found more people (other guests) hostile toward me and the ECV than I was prepared for. I know from these boards that a lot of people think ECV users aren't really disabled, especially if you are fat, which I am. But I never could have done WDW w/o the ECV. And I saw tons of people who clearly had never driven an ECV driving like maniacs. It's too bad we all get tarred by that brush. I tried to be careful and look where I was going. I actually received several compliments from boat captains and monorail CMs. I hope that doesn't sound to braggy. And I heard several conversations that led me to believe the people were able bodied and rented for the "ease." Doesn't seem easy to me.
I have to tell you this one story...I'm driving back to my room at the Poly, fairly early one morning. I round a corner, on medium turtle speed, way over on the right hand side of the path. Toward me is coming Grandma on an ECV, her--I would guess--adult daughters and grandchildren, walking. Grandma is bent over adjusting her sandals while holding the ECV controls with her elbows, coming right at me. Swear to God. She's not even glancing up at where she is going. I am over as far as I can go, and now at a dead stop. Grandma is still coming at me. I finally yelled "LOOK OUT!" Grandma looks up and says "Oh. I should look where I'm going." Ya think??!!
Lots of adults not watching their kids who glare at you when their kids leap in front of you. Anyway, just be careful.
Our room at the Poly was plenty big enough to park the ECV out of the way. Battery never ran out, although I napped every afternoon and plugged it in before going out for the evening.
CMs in the shops were all great and very helpful when I couldn't reach things, etc.
I think that's everything I wanted to say. If anyone has a specific question I'll try to answer.
We're leaving in 2 weeks for my first 
It's also scary to hear about that woman in the 
I know my grandmother sometimes would get antsy, and she would lean forward and hit the controls!! 
But thankfully, she's now in the habit of turning off her ECV if we're waiting in a line, and if we move up, she'll turn it on and move up. But still, she would always watch out for the safety of others (when she wasn't antsy waiting to get on Splash Mountain! 
) and goes EXTRA slow to avoid hitting anyone. And she hasn't hit anyone yet 
) the one that didn't stop was SSE, but the CMs slowed it considerably. And she just plain can't do TTA. So it makes me wonder, what other rides don't stop?
